Embrace
by hydra282
Summary: Beatrice is saved from having the same fate as Claes, when a new boy shows up and becomes her fratello.
1. Chapter 1

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Without A Goodbye**

On top of a building, there was a man and a little girl. The man was tough and in his early thirties, the girl was wearing a flower-print dress and holding a sniper rifle. The girl was quiet and expressionless, but she did have something on her mind.

"Alright, Bice, just aim at him carefully"

"I am"

[flashback]

Beatrice was simply making her way to the shooting range, when the worried Triela walked up to her and asked,

"Hey Beatrice, is Bernardo really retiring?"

"Yes" said Beatrice

"But without a fratello, the Agency will make you go through the same things as Claes"

"That's okay"

**sigh** "Well, aren't you at least going to miss him"

"No"

"Why not, isn't he your friend?"

"He's my partner, but that doesn't mean I have much interest in him"

"Why don't you like him? He seems nice"

"He's annoying, so I don't like him. Is that a problem?"

"No, but, I just thought the conditioning would have given you stronger feelings for him"

"Feelings. I don't have much of those anymore"

"Come on, now you're just being weird"

"I'm being serious. I just feel like I wasn't _always_ like this"

"That's strange, I've never had that feeling. I'm plenty happy hanging out with Hilshire"

"…What does happiness _feel_ like?"

Triela looked surprised and said,

"Uh, it kind of…well, I don't really know how to describe it"

Beatrice looked at Triela slightly displeased.

[end of flashback]

"Focus, Beatrice, focus!" said Bernardo

Beatrice regained her aim and killed the target.

"Bice, you've never lost focus before. What happened?"

"Nothing"

"You can be pretty hard to work with sometimes, Bice"

"At least you won't _have_ to work with me anymore"

"Is that what this is about? I'm sorry Bice, but I can't live this kind of life anymore. I have a wife and son that I never get to see. Working at the Agency takes away too much time, and after what I've seen happen to kids, I just can't let that time slip away anymore.

I hope you can understand"

"…"

**sigh** "Let's get out of here"

They walked to their car. Being around Beatrice is awkward thing to do for most people, but Bernardo's time with her had gotten him used to it.

"It's my last day, so how about we get some gelatos"

Beatrice didn't respond, but he knew what flavor tickled her fancy.

"I'll look for a place with Tutti-frutti"

"…fine"

"Okay, after gelatos, we can go to the carnival"

"No. I just want to go home"

It was sundown and Beatrice and Bernardo were back at the SWA. Bernardo said goodbye to all his former associates. He was going to miss them, but it was for the best. He bid farewell to his ex-cyborg, but she just continued licking what remained of her gelato. He knew how hardheaded she could be, but was shocked that the girl still didn't show a hint of sadness.

The saddened man drove off into the sunset, without even receiving a goodbye from the empty-eyed little girl that he had spent so much time with.


	2. Chapter 2

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Merry Weather**

The Croce brothers and their cyborgs, were hiding behind bushes, waiting for a group of Padania members. The handlers put a tree in the middle of the road as a trap. The targets finally showed up and the handlers were aiming at them. All of the men from the truck got out so they could push the tree out of the way, but a pink haired boy cautiously snuck out of the truck and ran into the forest. Jose saw him and sent Henrietta to catch him and bring him back alive, while they took care of the guys trying to push the tree.

Henrietta quickly caught up to the unarmed boy and told him,

"I have to take you with me"

The boy jumped when he heard a voice behind him, but he started smiling after he turned and saw Henrietta.

"Wow, well aren't you cute, of course I'll go with you" he said with a bright voice

Henrietta was surprised and embarrassed, because she had never been complimented by a boy before, and especially not by a hostage.

"You will! Uh, okay" Henrietta shyly said

"Lead the way" he said with a friendly smile

Henrietta didn't tell him where she was taking him, but the boy happily followed her anyway.

"So, what's your name?"

"Uh, Henrietta" she quietly said forgetting that she wasn't supposed to chat with hostages

"So, Henrietta, why do you have a gun?"

"It's part of my job"

"It doesn't sound like a job a cute little girl should be in"

"I can handle it, Jose believes in me"

"I can tell you're a nice person, Henrietta, so I'll assume that Jose is also good guy"

"Yeah, Jose is really nice"

The boy could sense love emanating from Henrietta whenever she talked about Jose. The boy was happy for her.

"I hope I get to meet him"

"You will, I'm sure he'll like you"

They returned to where Jose was, and the Padania members had already been killed.

"Jose, I…I got him"

"Hello! I'm Meri. Oh, I forgot to tell you that didn't I Henrietta. Sorry"

"Uhh… Meri" said the confused Jose

"Yeah, it's short for Meriwether. Cute name, huh"

Jean came and added to the conversation,

"What are you so happy about? We're going to interrogate you, don't you understand that?"

"Hey, I'm not a bad guy. I'll tell you everything I know"

**sigh** "Let's get back to HQ"

Jean told Meri to keep his mouth shut until they got to the interrogation room. Everyone besides Henrietta, felt a little awkward having such a cheerful hostage. Meri just looked at the trees outside the car's window, although he wished that they would allow him to talk to Henrietta again.

When they arrived at the SWA, they were spotted by Lorenzo, who got _really_ mad at them.

"What are you doing manhandling a Lucasta?!" Lorenzo said to Jean

Jean wondered what he meant until he gave the hostage a closer look. He put his pink hair and childish demeanor together to come up with the conclusion that the boy was from the famous Lucasta family. He was totally embarrassed and tried to cover up his mistake by saying,

"He's in Padania, sir"

"Actually, I was kidnapped. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with Padania" said Meri

"I'm sorry for what my men did to you" said Lorenzo

"It's all right, but Gianni was the mean one"

"What did you call me, twerp?!" Jean said angrily

"Jean! Go to your room and think about your behavior!" yelled the royally pissed off Lorenzo

Jean grumbled something nasty as he marched to his room for a time out. His cyborg, Rico, tried to cheer him up, but that only made him madder.

"I'm sorry for the way he acted. He has a bad temper" said Lorenzo

"He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that should be defending Italy or watching over a child" said Meri

"Jose, Henrietta, will you excuse us"

"Yes, sir" they said in unison

"Aw, I wanted to play with Henrietta"

"You can do that later if you like, um, I didn't catch your name"

"I'm Meriwether"

"Meriwether!! Would you mind telling me what you were thinking eight years ago!"

"Ha. Yeah, definit-"

Meri, then saw another cute girl walking in a far off hallway. The girl instantly intrigued him and totally stole his attention. The sixteen-year-old boy bolted towards her, leaving Lorenzo behind.

"Where are you going!" Lorenzo yelled to the boy who had already gotten pretty far away

"I'll get back to you!" Meri yelled back

"Heh, he's just like his father was" Lorenzo said to himself

The blank-faced girl looked where the yelling was coming from and saw a boy running straight towards her. Seeing that boy gave her a very unnatural sensation.


	3. Chapter 3

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Breaking The Girl**

"Hey!" Meriwether yelled to Beatrice

Beatrice just stared at him, but felt compelled to have a "conversation" with this boy. Normally people like him annoyed her, since she always considered happy people to be obnoxious.

"What's your name?" said Meri

"…Beatrice"

"Bice!"

"No, Beatrice"

"Bici!"

"No, Bice, I mean, Beatrice" she said with a hint of anger and embarrassment

"I like Bici the best, so I'll go with that"

She didn't look too happy about getting yet another nickname she didn't like.

"Well, Bici, I've got a feeling that we are going to be the _best_ of friends"

Beatrice stared at Meri.

"I'm Meriwether and I'm _very_ pleased to meet you"

"…"

"You wanna play tag"

Beatrice just looked away.

"Great, I take it you're speechless"

"Um…"

"Yes, my dear"

"Never mind"

"Good, then it's settled, let's play"

"…"

"What's wrong? Oh, I get it you want the others to play too, don't you. That's a great idea, Bici. I really wanna play with that little cutie, Henrietta, heh heh" Meri said as he imagined the wonderful possibilities.

Meri then gathered the other girls and Priscilla for a game of tag. He did ask Claes, Jose, and Hilshire, but they declined and chose to watch. The other adults, especially Jean, weren't interested. Meri was enjoying playing with the girls, especially with Henrietta, but Beatrice was just standing around. She then walked away entirely. Meri noticed that Bici was gone, so he went looking for her. He asked a man named Marco where she might be, and he pointed the boy to her room. Meri said his usual thanks and went on his way. He burst into her room and found his little friend lying on her bed.

"There you are, Bici, why'd you leave?"

"…I don't like playing"

"Are _you _jealous of the attention I give Etta?"

"No"

"I know it's not your fault, Bici, but Henrietta's just _so_ much cuter than you"

"…"

"Come on, Bici, let's go play something"

"No thanks, I'm sleepy"

"Oh… I guess I'll see you later then. Goodnight" Meri sadly said

Meriwether left the room and walked away in tears, because his attempt at making his friend happy was a failure.

"Goodnight" Beatrice quietly said

He wasn't going to give up, though; he was going to break her shell no matter what!


	4. Chapter 4

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Father To Son**

At night, Lorenzo found Meri sitting alone on the grass.

"Ah, there you are Meriwether" said Lorenzo

"Huh, oh, hi" said the depressed Meriwether

"What's wrong?"

"It's Bici, I don't like to see her like that"

"Who? Oh, Beatrice. Yeah, she's always been like that"

"Really?"

"Yes, Jean found her alone one day and brought her here"

"Wow, that sounds nice of him"

"Uh, sure"

"So, what are you doing with these kids? It isn't often that a little girl points a gun at someone"

"We're not supposed to let people know about us, so could you keep it a secret"

"Sure…_If_ you let me join"

"What!! Absolutely not! Your father would kill me if he were a-…Sorry…I didn't mean to bring that up"

"So, you knew my dad"

"Yeah, we were best friends since we were kids. Did you know that he made me your god-father?"

"So that was you. Great, then you have no choice, but to hire me. It's not like you're going to kill your godson. Ha, I'm staying"

"Seriously, Meriwether, your father would not condone such a thing"

"I don't care! He tried to get peace his way and he died because of it! To stop evil, I need to get my hands a little dirty, even if it damns me!"

"I see that you're as charismatic as your father, but I don't want you to get into this just for revenge"

"I have billions of reasons to join, but there _are_ few that are _extra_ special"

**sigh** "Fine, I'll give you a shot, but don't blame me if it's too hard for you to handle"

"Trust me, I can do it. I'd fend off the world for Bici, if it kept her safe for just another second. I need her to be happy"

"Why are you so interested in her? She's a great operative and all, but people usually don't like her very much"

"…She…She's special. I know it"

"Whatever you say. Well, if you're really going to work here, we're going to have to fill you in on everything. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready"

They both got up and talked some more while walking to the doctors' office

"So, what kind of gun do you want?" said Lorenzo

"I'll take a bat, please" said Meriwether

"A what! You have to be serious about this!"

"I am. Make me a bat that shoots tranquilizers out of the tip and put a stun gun on it too"

"That's completely ridiculous!"

"C'mon, I've always used my bat as a weapon. Think about it, I need a weapon that I'm used to, and it has to be functional. The taser would temporarily subdue the enemy, while the tranquilizers will be used when I _really_ need to put the guy to sleep. It can also be used as an offensive and defensive weapon"

**sigh** "You really know how to convince someone. Fine, I'll see what the guys can do"

"Yaaay. Oh, and make sure it's pink and says "_SMILE!_" on it"

"Oh, boy"


	5. Chapter 5

**Jean Hates Meri!**

"Are you seriously going to hire that kid!" said Jean

"Don't speak about him like that, he may be young, but I trust the boy"

"Exactly, he's only a kid. He thinks this all just a game, why are you making the kid a bat! This isn't baseball!"

"That's enough, Jean! I'm not going to let you speak badly about my god-son. His father was a good man and so is his son"

"… Sir, you know that Section 1 will just use this against us"

"We are already turning children into cyborgs, we can't get much worse than that"

"…"

"Now, if that is all you have to say, then you should go do some training"

Jean was excused and left to talk to his brother.

"I can't believe he's letting that brat work here"

"Meriwether isn't a bad kid, Jean. Even for someone so young, I think he'll be a great fratello"

"The only reason Lorenzo's even letting him stay is because he's the son of his old friend"

"Well, you don't like him just because he embarrassed you and because he's your opposite"

"The damn kid can't even act his age"

"He was raised to be innocent, and that is a good thing. If everyone was like him, we wouldn't even need an SWA"

"That kid just annoys the hell out of me!"

"I think you've made that quite obvious, Jean"


	6. Chapter 6

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Music Can Bring Us Together**

The next morning, Meri went on a walk around the SWA. He was kind of cold, because he usually wore shorts. While walking he heard a violin being played and the music pulled him in like a siren's singing. He walked into a room and was happy to find that it was Henrietta making the music. She was surprised and messed up the song she was playing.

"Wow, you're a very good musician" said Meri

"Thank you, but I don't think I'm that good" said Henrietta

"Don't sell yourself short, you're definitely good at it"

Meriwether listened to his friend making beautiful music and Henrietta was happy to have someone interested in her. After she stopped playing again, Meri asked her,

"Does Bici play an instrument?"

"No, she doesn't seem to like music that much"

"Hmm, that gives me an idea"

Henrietta tried to ask him what his idea was, but he had already gotten excited and dashed off to Beatrice's room.

"Hey, sleepydoodle, get up!"

Beatrice was none too happy being woken from her slumber, but Meri picked up the groggy girl and dragged her to Lorenzo's office.

"Hey, we need someone to drive us to an instrument store!"

"You're going to buy Beatrice an instrument, that's good"

"Yeah, so let's go already!"

"Jose's not busy right now, so go ask him"

Meri's eyes lit up when he heard that.

"Come on, Bici"

Beatrice looked up at Meri, but didn't budge.

"What's wrong?"

"…I don't want to go"

"What?!… but, it'll be fun" Meri said with his spirit broken

After a few seconds, Beatrice walked back to her room leaving Meri absolutely torn.

"That's just what happens when your cyborg wasn't originally yours. She might not listen to you. I told you that you could have this problem, so try to not to let it get to you" said Lorenzo

"It's all _my_ fault, I should have never…"

"You should go get her the instrument anyway, it'll be good for her"

"Yeah…I will…Bye"

Meriwether slowly walked like a zombie until he found Jose and Henrietta. They agreed to take him to the city, but they got a strange vibe of emptiness coming from their new friend. Not even Henrietta could cheer him up. They went to a lot of different stores until they finally found the perfect instrument. Meri instantly soared out of his pit of sorrow when he saw a gorgeous black piano that was perfect for Beatrice.

Once they got back to the SWA and put the piano in the music room, Meri left and came back pulling Beatrice by the hand. Meri pulled off the sheet covering the piano, and Beatrice walked towards the musical miracle. A crowd had gathered to see what she would do, and they were all happy for her. She showed no emotion, but Meri was proud of what he did for his little cutie.

"…It's mine?" Beatrice said shyly, yet slightly excited

"Well, yeah! Try it out" Meri joyfully said

She silently sat down on the piano's seat and tried to play it. She was absolutely horrible. Realizing how bad she was, she immediately stopped. She quietly sat there embarrassed, until Meri sat next to her and started playing it himself. He was even worse than she was.

"Let's play, Bici. It's our first time playing one of these, so there's no reason to be embarrassed"

Beatrice quietly stayed still while Meri enjoyed himself. After a few seconds, Beatrice looked at Henrietta, and then she looked at Meri. Even though their music was atrocious, she started playing along with the pink haired boy.


	7. Chapter 7

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Melancholy Smile**

After, playing the piano for a few hours, which had become their routine, Beatrice and Meri walked around the SWA, until they got to Bici's room. They walked into the dark and quiet room where Meri asked,

"So, Bici, do you really have amnesia?"

"…The farthest I can remember is the moment I met Jean"

"It would have been nice if you could remember more of your past, but at least we have each other in the present"

Beatrice didn't say anything, but he felt like she was happy too.

"Do you want to know _my_ past?"

"Yes"

"Wow, _you_ sure sound interested"

"…"

"All righty then, its story time. Hmm, _wheeere tooo staarrt_. Ok, I got it. My parents lived in Italy, but they moved to England so they could raise me in my dad's homeland. My dad was a famous politician like some of my other family members. I wanted to go down the doctor route, which is another thing we're famous for, but I wanted to do it a little differently, so I left my parents a note and ran away to learn how to be a doctor"

"How old were you?"

"I was 8"

"…"

"I hitchhiked my way to a small village in the countryside where there was a doctor, named Trent, that was a family friend. I told Trent to keep my being there a secret, but he called my parents anyway. Luckily, Trent convinced my dad to let me stay and be his apprentice. He taught me everything he knew. I made a lot of friends in that little village"

"What were they like?"

"They were all really nice, especially this one girl…she was really sweet"

Meri noticed that Beatrice seemed a little upset.

"No need to worry, she wasn't _nearly_ as cute as _you_… although, she _was_ my first love" Meri said with a silly smile

"Did you…ever tell her how you felt?"

"…No, I never got to…she moved away"

"…Oh"

"She did promise that she would come back to see me, but…she never did"

"Were you sad about it"

"Yeah…"

"How did it _feel_?"

"I couldn't shake my love for her. It felt like…I was being latched onto by her shadow"

"That doesn't sound good"

"Ha, well yeah"

"Do you still feel like that?"

"No…I'm over her…"

They both stayed quiet for a few seconds until Meriwether, somewhat hesitantly, concluded his story.

"Anyway, a year ago, I learned everything I wanted to know and left for Italy to see my parents again...On my way here, I was kidnapped by Padania. Those guys used me to control my dad. He went with their demands, so that I wasn't hurt, but my dad was about to tell the police what was going on, so Padania needed to get rid of him before he revealed what was happening…"

Beatrice noticed that tears were starting to form in Meriwether's eyes. She didn't know what to do, so she just kept listening.

"They ambushed him, killed all of his guards, and they kidnapped him. After eight years, I finally got to see my dad face-to-face again…but that wasn't a happy reunion. They wanted my dad dead and me to be their puppet, so they could force into politics and fight for their cause using my good Lucasta name. A man wearing a mask gave me a gun and thirty seconds to make a choice, either kill my father or he would blow up an elementary school class…My dad told me that I needed to shoot him, so that only one life would be lost. We said goodbye to each other and…I killed him…I didn't even get to go to his funeral…A month after all that, they tried to send me to Venice, and that's where Henrietta and the others saved me"

Without changing her blank expression, Beatrice turned towards Meriwether

and hugged him, while the boy wept on her shoulder. She was surprisingly warm. Although Meri was sad about his past, he was happy that Bici wanted to comfort him.


	8. Chapter 8

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**Our First Mission**

Meriwether was reading with Beatrice when someone knocked on the door.

"Are you ready?" said Jean

"Pardon?" said Meri

**sigh** "Today's your first mission and I'm not going to let you go without training"

"Oh, thanks. Come on Bici, training time"

Bici gave a quick nod.

Meri and Beatrice went to the shooting range and shot their targets for a couple hours. Meri practiced shooting things with his bat, while Bici used her UZI. They also sparred with each other. Meri kept holding back on his hits, which allowed Bici to give him a bloody nose. Jean later came and told them that it was time to go.

* * * * * * * *

Meriwether was starting to doubt himself as they drove nearer to their destination.

"Bici, I'm getting kinda scared" whispered Meri

"I'll make sure you're safe" Beatrice whispered back

"Thank you"

"You're…welcome"

"I saw you training, I don't think you have anything to worry about" said Rico while not whispering

"So, you're getting cold feet. I knew you weren't up to this" said Jean

"Hey, just because I'm scared doesn't mean I'm giving up. I have to believe in myself, no matter how hard that may be" said Meri

"We're here. You better not mess this up" said Jean

Meriwether took a deep a breath and said,

"This is it"

The building's windows were boarded, so Rico couldn't do her usual sniping. Jean re-explained the plan to everyone and started the operation. He sent Meri in first, so that he could surprise them and tranquilize whomever he could for interrogation. He sent Beatrice in right after, to take out anyone Meri couldn't handle. After Bici was inside killing people, Jean and Rico waited a minute before they acted as backup and finished off the rest.

Rico and Beatrice dragged into the car all the people that Meri knocked out. The mission was a success, but Jean still wasn't happy.

"If you trained harder, you would have gotten us more people" said Jean

"I'm sor-"

"He tried his hardest" Beatrice angrily interrupted

Jean was astonished by the quiet girl that had never raised her voice like that before. Her authoritative tone angered him.

"How dare you speak that way to the man that brought you off the streets and gave you a home. If it wasn't for me, you would still be alone on the street" said Jean

"…I- I'm not going to let you talk down to Meriwether" Beatrice said with her bravery weakening

Jean got even madder and raised his hand to strike Beatrice. Meri was dumbfounded by how mean Jean was being to her.

"Stop!!" yelled Meri as he defended Beatrice

Meriwether was knocked to the ground by Jean's powerful slap. Jean was very shocked when Beatrice pointed her gun at him as if she was programmed to protect Meri, which in turn made Rico point her gun at Bici.

"No, don't shoot!" Meri said while trying to hold back his tears

"You too, Rico. Put it away" said Jean

Beatrice and Rico both lowered their guns and stood still.

**Ahem** "We'd better get back to the Agency before these guys wake up" said Jean

It was another quiet and awkward ride with Jean. When they got home, Meri pulled Beatrice to her room. Meri's eyes were getting wet.

"Why does he have to be such a jerk?" said Meri

"You did good" said Beatrice

"…He was right, though, I should be training more"

Beatrice relunctantly nodded her head.

"I have to prove myself to everyone, so I'll be practicing a lot more now"

"Yes, that would make you safer"

"Do you know what else I was afraid of?"

"What?"

"I was afraid that you might be hurt. Rico was about to kill you"

"…Don't worry about that"

**sigh** "That makes me feel a little better"

* * * * *

Jean had Rico take down their interrogates, while he walked to the doctors' office.

"Bianchi, what the hell is going on?! Beatrice pointed her gun at me just because I hit the kid" said Jean

"You hit Meriwether! Lorenzo's definitely not going to be happy about that" said Bianchi

"That doesn't matter, I asked you why Beatrice turned against me"

"Hmm, she's not conditioned to defend Meri, so it seems that she naturally wanted to protect him"

"Why would she want to do that? When I first found her, she was completely devoid of emotions. Not even Bernardo could get her to open up"

"Ever since Meri came, she's been getting more sociable and seems to actually be happy. He's the only one that has been able to pull out the feelings she locked away.

Meriwether must be the key to her heart…now isn't that something"


	9. Chapter 9

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**The Adversary**

It was just another day at the SWA, before a man named Reschiglian called Lorenzo with bad news. After he made Lorenzo aware of his coming, he arrived at the Agency.

"This is extremely urgent, are all of the handlers in the briefing room?" said Reschiglian

"Yes, they're all ready" said Lorenzo

* * * * * * *

Lorenzo and Reschiglian entered the room full of fratellos, but not every seat was filled.

"Why is there an empty seat?" asked Reschiglian

"Where is Meriwether?" Lorenzo said to the handlers

"He's in the restroom, this must not be very important to him" said Jean

"I'm in a hurry, so we have to start without him" said Resch

Resch kept his eye on Sandro, who was looking back at him, and revealed his information.

"I assume you all know who this man is" Resch said while passing around a picture

"Yeah, that's the Left Extremist, Liberatore" said Marco

"Correct. I've been told by one of my spies, that-"

The door was then, loudly opened by a pink haired boy

"Whew, sorry, I couldn't hold it any longer" said Meriwether as he unknowingly interrupted Reschiglian, "Sorry"

Meri sat on his chair and looked at the picture.

"Who's he?" said Meri

"That's Liberatore. You wouldn't need to ask, if you were here on time" said Jean

"He is targeting his four-year-old daughter. I need Alessandro and any volunteers" said Resch

"Huh, why me?!" said Sandro

"I'll tell you later"

The first and only person who got to volunteer was Meri, who actually held his arm up.

"Me! I'm going too" said Meri

"Are you a handler?"

"Yeah"

Reschiglian was surprised that Lorenzo allowed someone so young to work there.

"Why do you want to be in this?"

"I can't let a monster like him roam the world. I don't want him to hurt any innocents, especially not a little girl"

Jean thought, "Why does this guy like little girls so much?"

"This will be very dangerous"

"Together, Bici and I can do anything! Please let us join you"

**sigh** "Lorenzo?"

"He's already had a few missions and has definitely proven himself" said Lorenzo

"Okay, you're in"

"Thank you, I promise I won't mess anything up"

Jean wanted to laugh when he heard that.

"Any more volunteers?" asked Resch

"I think two fratellos are enough" said Lorenzo

Reschiglian had now enlisted the volunteer Meri along with Sandro who didn't even know why he had to join.

*** * * * * * * * * * * * ***

In a mansion populated by Padania, there was a private room for a man that didn't want to be disturbed.

"What do you want?" said one of the guards

"I'm here with an update regarding the girl" said the man

The guards made sure the man had no weapons and let the man enter. The room was large, round, and dimly lit. The surrounding wall was lined with books big and small. There were two men in the room. The one sitting at the side had hair that looked as if it was dipped in blood; he was reading a manga called Blood Girls. At the opposite side of the room was an older man sitting behind his desk. The man had shadowy black hair and was reading a book called The Adversary. After mustering up his courage, the intruding man said,

"Sir, we've located your dau- the girl"

"And…" said the young red-haired man

"We haven't actually taken her yet, but I'll call the men we have in the govt."

"When will this issue be resolved?" said the man with black hair

"I was going to have them get her by the end of the week"

"Idiot. Don't take your time, she needs to die, now" The man angrily said in a way that stabs people with fear.

"I- I'll call them immediately, Liberatore, sir…"

"Is that all?"

"I saw you on TV, sir, y- you were amazing" the man said sounding like a musician's groupie

"Did you not _say_ that you would immediately make the call?"

"I- I'm sorry, sir. Please excuse my foolishness"

The man named Liberatore silently glared at his sub-ordinate like a snake eyeing a mouse. The Padania grunt quickly walked out of his boss's room, still feeling like he was being watched.

"These mindless buffoons are more focused on worshipping me, than fulfilling their actual purpose. I cannot believe that _they_ are the people I command" said Liberatore

"So boss, does the girl really have to die?"

"Don't question my judgement, Nevel. It's too risky to let her live"

"If you say so" said Nevel "It's still hard to believe that anyone could trick you like that"

"She was very convincing, that's all that needs to be said"

Before he continued reading his favorite book, Liberatore thought,

"All the great men that I looked up to are now gone, leaving me behind to lead these fools…Like my forefathers, I swore to liberate us, but unlike them, I will actually reach that goal and be worthy of my name. _I_ will be the one to finally end this war"


	10. Chapter 10

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**For The Lady and The Miss**

Reschiglian took Alessandro to another room for a talk.

"So, why do I have to do this?" asked Sandro

"You want to see Rossana again, don't you?"

"Huh? You know where she is?"

"She lives in a small village near Siena, I thought you would like to have a word with her"

"…When are we going?"

"As soon as you're all ready"

* * * * * *

"Hey Bici, guess what"

"..."

"We're going to a village. It'll be like when I was a little kid"

"…That's good"

"Are you ready?"

Beatrice grabbed her equipment.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I think so" Meri said not actually knowing for sure

"Go make sure"

"Yes, ma'am"

* * * * * * * * *

After what felt like hours to Meri, they drove into the village and found Rossana with her little girl.

"Reschiglian, what are you doing here?" asked Rossana

"You're in danger, Rossana" said Sandro

"Is that you Alessandro? My my, you look like you've matured"

After seeing the girl with Rossana, he asked,

"Is she your…daughter?"

"Yes, her name is Bianca"

"Is she…"

"Yes"

* * * * *

While Sandro and Rossana were talking, Meriwether, Beatrice, and Anita were hanging out Bianca.

"I wonder who that lady is?" said Anita

"Judging by the way Sandy's kinda fumbling around, I'm guessing they used to be together" said Meri

"Really? Well, she sure is beautiful. I wish I looked as pretty as her"

"I prefer cuteness over beauty. If I had to choose between you and her, I'd definitely pick you"

"Thanks, but...I want to hear Sandro tell me that"

"Hmm"

"No! What I meant was...uhh"

"Don't worry. I'm sure Sandy will get used to you soon. Isn't that right, Bianca?"

"PINO!" said Bianca

"Aww, She's so cuuute" said Meri

Beatrice didn't say much, but she did play with Bianca.

"Anita, look at them, how adorable" said Meri

"Hee hee, yeah, they are" said Anita

"Excuse me Anita, I've got some playing to do"

Meri happily sat down with the two little girls.

"Hi Bianca, I'm Meri. Can you say my name?"

"Me- Me- Me-Vi…"

"Almost" said Beatrice

"Come on, you can do it, Bianca. Just say Meri"

"Me- Me- Me-Ri"

"Yay! You did it!" said Meri

Bianca's proud joy made everyone happy, even Beatrice had a faint smile.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Do you remember Liberatore?" said Reschiglian

"What? What's wrong?" said Rossana

She got very worried; because Liberatore was the most dangerous man she ever spied on. She could clearly remember how scary he was and hard it was to gain his trust.

"He found out about you"

Rossana was speechless.

"We need to get you and your daughter out of here before he sends someone after you"

"Should I get ourselves some clothes first?"

"No, we have to leave right now. Alessandro, get your friends"

"Hey guys, it's time to go" said Sandro

"Aww, do we have to? It's nice out here" said Meri

"We have to leave right now, unless you want your new friend to die"

Meri got serious and went into the car with Beatrice and Bianca. The others got in right after them. They drove for a few minutes until they saw a suspicious car coming their way. The car stopped and a man came out of it. He then shot a Panzerfaust rocket towards Reschiglian's car. Anita took her gun out and shot the rocket to make it go off course. She shot at the enemy's car, but the bullets just bounced off. Sandro could tell that the car was owned by the govt., since its CFRP protection wasn't available to the public. Anita grabbed her slingshot and shot a metal ball to scramble his window. The enemy's car flipped, allowing everyone to escape.

"That was close" said Sandro

"Did I do good?" asked Anita

"Yeah, that was great"

Rossana, Bianca, and Meri were all still scared. Meri and Bianca were actually crying, but he stopped and tried to get her to stop too.

* * * * * * * * * *

The air was cold and the sky was grey when they arrived at the train station.

"This is goodbye for now" Meri said while trying not to cry

"Boygol" said Bianca

"Bici and I are really gonna miss you"

"…Yeah" said Beatrice

"Me-Ri, Bi-Ci"

**gasp** "Ahaha, she said both of our names" said Meri

"That's nice" said Beatrice

"Bianca, we'll definitely come visit you soon"

"Boygolll" Bianca sadly said

"Please, don't be sad. We'll see you again" Beatrice quietly said

* * * *

Anita kept her smile on, but was saddened by Sandro and Rossana talking to each other. She wanted to have Alessandro all to herself.

"Alessandro, I'm very thankful for what you did for us. We wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for you" said Rossana

"Don't thank me, Reschiglian's the one that found out and brought us" said Sandro

"If you and Anita weren't there, we would have been killed"

"Just forget about it. Forget your past and focus on your future. You've got a happy life waiting for you and your little girl"

"Will you continue this way?"

"I can't stop that easily"

"Thank you, Alessandro"

Bianca stepped onto the train to Geneva with her mother and sat on their seats.

Meri shed some tears while waving his and Beatrice's arms. Rossana and Bianca both waved back from their side of the window.

Goodbye


	11. Chapter 11

Gunslinger Girl and its characters are property of YU AIDA ^_^

The original characters are my property 9.9

**REVELATION**

Meriwether and Beatrice were away at Barcelona for a week of vacation. They went to all the nice tourist spots. On the fourth day, Meri took a nap on the hotel room's bed. Beatrice was outside looking at the pretty water and the romantics floating on it. She was starting to understand how those people felt.

* * * * * * * *

The full moon and colorful stars were illuminating the night. Meri and Beatrice were lying next to each other on a green pasture, gazing up at the shining children of the universe. They were pointing out constellations, such as Scorpio, Hydra, and Raphael. Meri sat up to have a more personal conversation with Beatrice when he noticed two dark figures on a far off hilltop, the taller one had horns. Meri turned to tell Beatrice something, but she was gone. He assumed she had gone to the non-existant bathroom by the bushes. He looked back at the two beings standing on the hill. The sun quickly rose behind them, which made the taller creature's horns disappear. One of them was a sad young man, while the other was a sadder small girl. They both had striking red hair and were now holding hands. After he saw them, they along with the sun and stars were shrouded by darkness and disappeared. Meriwether saw the full moon turn red and Pluto unfade into the surreal sky. He then saw the shadow of a monster standing before him and all of a sudden a waterfall of screams fell onto Meri's head, one of the cries sounded like it came from Beatrice. Meriwether was frozen with fear and full of anger. The beastly shadow spoke and said,"The end is on the horizon. I will ruin the people you hold dear, and there is nothing you can do about it" Meriwether was furiously sobbing about the screams and what the shadow had said, but he managed to yell,"Shut up! I'll never let you hurt them!" Meriwether felt bravery flowing through himself. He got up on his feet and charged at the looming specter. The monstrous shadow merely laughed and gobbled up the pink-haired boy.

* * * * * * * *

"What's the matter, Meriwether?" said Beatrice

Meri had been crying and yelling while he was sleeping. Beatrice was worried about him. When he saw her, he immediately embraced her and told her that he wouldn't let the shadow get her. She wondered what he was talking about.

"What happened?" asked Beatrice

Meriwether was breathing heavily and looked at her with his wet eyes.

"I...It's...I don't really want to talk about it. It was too scary"

"But, you usually talk about everything"

"I don't want to remember it"

"Please tell me what's wrong"

"You...you disappeared and I could...I could hear you and everyone else screaming. Then there was this big shadow. I felt strong, but it ate me up like nothing. And...and...I was so scared"

When Beatrice heard about the shadow, it made her think that Meriwether still had thoughts about his first love. That disappointed her.

"I'm here with you...and I'm not going anywhere" said Beatrice

They rode on a gondola together, but Meri didn't seem normal.

He tried to act happy, but the nightmare was always on the back of his mind.

She could tell that Meriwether felt sad and insecure for the rest of their vacation.


End file.
